DUSHANBE, April 2, 2015, Asia-Plus – A men from the Tajik northern city of Isfara has got a long jail term for membership in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

A court in Sughd province sentenced him to nine years in prison on March 31.

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a militant Islamist group formed in 1998.  IMU, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is on the U.S. State Department''s list of foreign terrorist organizations and is banned in Central Asia’s nations and the Russian Federation.  It is believed to have links with Taliban militants and international terrorist network Al-Qaeda.